January 29th 2013 7:42 am
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Traveling on from Kanab Utah we passed thru Capitol Reef National Park on our way to Dead Horse Point State Park and nearby Canyonlands National Park. We arrived at Capitol Reef late in the afternoon and took a hike of about 2 hours thru a slot canyon there. Darkness fell as we were finishing up our hike,so we decided to stay the night at the campground there. We had explored this park last year so after another short hike in the morning,we moved on.

Dead Horse Point State Park sits atop a mesa towering thousands of feet over the rugged Utah landscape. Miles of trails lead to stunning viewpoints. It was still warm even in Nov and we spent the day exploring the trails here.Supposedly the park name derives from a time in the 1800`s when cowboys would corral horses here. The animals couldn`t escape due to the high cliffs. One time the cowboys forgot about the horses and the poor animals died stumbling down the cliffs in a vain attempt to reach the Colorado River far below. No such problems for me as my Dad brought water for both of us! Some pix with descriptions follow.

Dead Horse Point